Refuse bag retainer

ABSTRACT

There is disclosed herein a retainer for holding the outwardly turned upper edge portion of a flexible sheet liner or bag against the outer surface of a rigid refuse container to prevent the bag from being swept into the container by incoming refuse. A flexible band is provided with a handle on its circumference to facilitate manipulation of the retainer. According to other embodiments, adjustable fastener means are provided for adjusting the circumferential size of the retainer to accommodate retainers of different sizes.

United States Patent 1 Pavlish Dec. 23, 1975 REFUSE BAG RETAINER [76]Inventor: Allen T. Pavlish, 6574 Annandale Road, Mayfield Heights, Ohio44124 [22] Filed: Feb. 21, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 444,499

[52] US. .Cl .1 24/243-K; 24/30.5 L; 248/95 [51] Int. Cl. B65B 67/12[58] Field of Search 248/95, 97, 101; 24/49 S, 24/161 PB, 17 A, 17 B,30.5. L, 115 H, 129

W, 136 B, 176, 186, 243 K, 256

[56] References Cited UNlTED STATES PATENTS 301,294 7/1884 Ryle et a124/129 W 1,797,539 3/1931 Arthur 24/17 B 2,140,199 12/1938 Constantine248/101 2,572,889 10/1951 Strykower 24/1 15 H 2,598,334 5/1952 Ahlburg24/115 H 3,614,041 10/1971 Koger 1 248/97 3,701,339 10/1972 Kemmerling24/115 l-l Primary Examiner-Roy D. Frazier Assistant Examiner-Robert A.Hafer 1 ABSTRACT There is disclosed herein a retainer for holding theoutwardly turned upper edge portion of a flexible sheet liner or bagagainst the outer surface of a rigid refuse container to prevent the bagfrom being swept into the container by incoming refuse. A flexible bandis provided with a handle on its circumference to facilitatemanipulation of the retainer. According to other embodiments, adjustablefastener means are provided for adjusting the circumferential size ofthe retainer to accommodate retainers of different sizes.

8 Claims, 14 Drawing Figures US. Patent Dec. 23, 1975 Sheet 1 of23,927,445

US. Patent Dec.23, 1975 Sheet2of2 3,927,445

FIG. 8.

FIG.II.

FIG.IO.

FIG. l3.

FIG. I2.

FIG. I4.

. v ,1. I a 1-1 I SE BAG R TAINER invention relatesto a retainer for usewith a flexible sheet or fabric bag type liner for a refuse container tomaintain the open end of the bag draped over the edge of the containerwhile refuse is being dumped into the container.

It is common modern practice to dispose of various types of refuse byplacing the same in lightweight disposable bags which are commonly madeof thin sheet plastic material, and then tying off the upper end of thebag with a wire twist fastener or a plastic lock fastener. Since thebags have no inherent strength for standing alone, there is a tendencyforthe bag to collapse and fall inwardly of the container when refuse isdumped into the container. The incoming grass, leaves or other refusetend to drag the sides of thebag downwardly until the open upper end ofthe'bag collapses and closes whereby the refuse tends to be depositedoutside the bag or between the bag and the rigid container. Even if theopen edge of the bag is held by one hand, the bag still tends tocollapse. Frequently, both hands are necessary for dumping the refuseinto the container whereby repeated rearrangement of the bag isnecessary while it is being-filled.

The present invention comprises an elastic retaining loop provided witha convenient handle at one point in the periphery thereof, the loopbeing adapted to resiliently engage the upper edge portion of the refusebag which is folded outwardly and downwardly over the upper edge of therefuse container. The retaining loop effectively holds the upper edgeportion of the bag against the outer surface of the container therebypreventing the bag from collapsing inwardly when refuse is thrown intothe container. The elastic characteristic of the retaining loop makes itimmediately adaptable to any external shape of refuse container, and theprovision of a handle enables the same to be quickly mounted to thecontainer or stripped therefrom. Persons engaged in, for example, yardwork or gardening will frequently be wearing gloves, and the presence ofa handle makes manipulation and removal of the retainer quite easy evenwith gloved hands.

"Ihepresent invention additionally contemplates the use of fasteningmeans for use in adjusting the size of the retainer loop to fitdifferent size containers.

In view of the foregoing, the general object of this inventionv is toprovide simple and convenient means for'retaining a flexible bag 'orliner on the open end of a substantially rigid refuse container.

.More specifically,,it is an object of this invention to provide such aretainerwhich'is readily adaptable to fit refuse containers of variousshapes.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a retainer which'willhold the upper, backwardly turned edge portion of a bag against theouter surface of a rigid container and can be easily and readily removedtherefrom by a person wearing gloves.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a retainer of thetype set forth above which is adaptable 7 unique adjustable fastenermeans for adjusting the elasfor use with containers of at least twosubstantially justable between the largestand the smallest refusecontainers in ordinary use.

tic retaining loop toany desired size and degree of tension.

Other objects of the invention and the invention itself will be readilyunderstood from the following description thereof and the accompanyingdrawings, in which said drawings:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of the refuse bagretainer of this invention;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of a refuse container or trash canshowing-the manner in which the retainer holds the refuse bag in place;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the refuse bagretainer;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view of still another embodiment showing amodified handle means therefor;

FIG. 5 is a perspective view similar to FIG. 1 showing a form of theretainer having an adjustable fastener for varying the size thereof;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged, side elevation of the retainer shown in theembodiment of FIG: 5;

FIG. 7 is a top plan view of the fastener as shown in FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a section taken along the line 8-8 of FIG. 7 furtherillustrating the manner in which the adjustable fastener retains theloop of the bag retainer in any adjusted position;

FIG. 9 is a section similar to FIG. 8 showing the manner in which theelastic of the retainer is manipulated during adjustment thereof;

FIG. 10 is a side elevation of a modified form of the retainer of FIGS.6-9;

FIG. 11 is a top plan view of the modified fastener of FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 1 and 5 showing anothermodification of the refuse bag retainer having a different form ofadjustment means;

FIG. 13 is an enlarged detail of the fastener means and handle of theembodiment of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a perspective view similar to FIGS. 1, 5, and 12 showingstill another modification of adjustable refuse bag retainers.

Referring now to the drawings in all of which like parts are designatedby like reference numerals, FIG. 1 shows a refuse bag retainer 10comprising a resilient loop 11 having a handle 12 connected at one pointin the circumference thereof by a short strap or bridge portion 13. Asherein illustrated, the loop 11 and strap portion 13 are manufacturedfrom elongated, flat resilient material 15 in strip form, such as rubberor elastic webbing. Both the loop 11 and strap portion 13 may compriseportions of a single piece of the elastic material 15 a portion of whichengages the handle 12 and end portions of which overlap in the area ofsaid strap portion. The overlapping end portions and strap portion aresecured together in any suitable manner such as rivets 14. "Ihe handle12 as herein illustrated comprises a simple ring preferably made of asolid material such as a rigid plastic, metal or suitable substitute. Itwill be understood that the elongated elastic material 15 may be of anysuitable cross sectional shape and that the means for fastening the endsof said material may comprise any suitable means such as riveting,sewing, clamping, or the like. It will be furtherunderstood that thehandle 12 may be of any suitable shape for easy grasping in themanipulation of the retainer 10.

Referring now to FIG. 2 of the drawings, a conventional trash can 18 ofsuitable rigid construction is provided with a lightweight refuse bagliner 19 which is disposed within the trash can with the upper edgeportion 19a projecting above the top of the can and folded backwardlyand downwardly over the upper edge thereof. The retainer. is attached tothe can 18 with the resilient loop portion 11 disposed around the upperedge portion 19a of the bag thereby holding said upper edge portionsnugly against the can and preventing said upper edge portion from beingpulled or dragged into the can by refuse which is dumped therein. Itwill be noted that the short strap portion 13 causes the handle 12 toproject or dangle a short distance from the can and gives the user agrasping point of the retainer which is easy to find and engage even bya heavily gloved hand. Thus, especially when removing the retainer 10,the user does not have. to try to engage the elastic material 15 withhis fingernails or fingertips to remove the same from the upper end ofthe trash can. Also, if the user pulls upwardly on the handle 12 tostrip the retainer 10 from the can, the upper edge portion 19a of therefuse bag 19 will automatically be pulled off the upper end of the canwhereby the same will be ready to be tied off.

Itwill be understood that the method and means of making the abovereferred to and described retainer may be varied, the specificembodiment described comprising a simple and effective means forproviding an elastic loop for encircling the can and a suitable handleor gripping means for grasping and manipulating the retainer even whilewearing gloves.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, it is anticipated that the entire retainer canbe integrally formed or molded from a resilient material such as aresilient plastic. In FIG. 3, a retainer 10a comprises a resilient loop11a and a handle 12a integrally connected by a strap or bridge portion13a. The handle 12a is preferably thickened respect to the loop 11a toreduce the resilience thereof and more closely resemble the preferablyrigid handle 12. j

The remaining embodiments of the invention are all adapted to beutilized in the same manner as that described connection with the firstembodiment of FIGS. 1 and 2. In the'embodiment of FIG. 4, the handle 12comprising a ring or annulus merely has a portion of a resilient orelastic loop 21 projected therethrough. Thus, the handle 12 may bereadily slipped or moved to any point on the periphery of the retainerand at the same time provides a suitable grasping means for manipulatingand removing said retainer.

FIG. 5 shows a retainer 10 of the first embodiment further modified byaddition of an adjustable fastener 24 adapted to adjustably reduce thesize of the loop 11 whereby said retainer is adaptable for use withrefuse receptacles of different sizes. The adjustable fastener 24comprises a tubular sleeve 25 which is open at both ends and made of asubstantially rigid material such as metal or a rigid plastic. The innerdiameter of the sleeve 25 ispreferably slightly smaller than the widthof the elastic material 15. As herein illustrated, the sleeve 25 iscircular in transverse section but does not necessarily have to belimited to that configuration. One end of the sleeve 25 is provided withgenerally axially directed, integral prongs 26 which, as hereinillustrated, are fivein number. The prongs 26 are tapered in the axialdirection away from the sleeve 25 whereby to provide a plurality ofsubstantially sharp points 27. The

prongs 26 are preferably slightly convergently angled toward the axis ofthe sleeve 25 whereby said points 27 project slightly inwardly over theinner diameter of the sleeve 25. The result is that the aggregate ofpoints 27 forms an opening slightly smaller than the opening afforded bythe sleeve 25. This is easily seen in FIG. 7 of the drawings.

FIG. 8 of the drawings shows the mode of retaining an adjusted size inthe loop 11 by the adjustable fastener 24. The loop 11 is collapsedwhereby portions of the elongated elastic material 15 on either side ofthe loop are brought together flatwise after which the flattened loop isthreaded through the sleeve 25 from the bottom end thereof as shown inFIG. 5 and outwardly through the prongs 26. This can be done by, forexample, initially folding or rolling the material 15 about itslongitudinal axis whereby to force a portion of the material through theprongs 26. Once enough material projects beyond said prongs to begrasped by the hand, the fastener 24 can be quickly and readily slippedtoward thehandle 12 with very little resistance because the relativemovement is away from the points 27 of the prongs 26. At any desiredadjusted position, the fastener 24 may be stopped thus determining thesize of the loop 11 which is immediately ready for use. When the loop 1l is stretched to engage a trash can 18 in the manner illustrated inFIG. 2, portions of the elongated elastic material 15 are pulled inopposite directions as shown in FIG. 8 whereby they are engaged by thepoints 27 of the prongs 26. The tighter the loop 11 is stretched, thedeeper the points 27 of the prongs 26 engage the elastic material 15thereby preventing any further enlargement of said loop other than thatafforded by stretching said material. The engagement of the prongs 26with the elastic material 15 is fully automatic at any adjusted positionof the fastener 24 without further manipulation of either the fasteneror the elastic material.

FIG. 9 shows the manner in which the adjustable fastener 24 may beadjusted in the direction of the prongs 26. Obviously, if one attemptsto move the fastener outwardly away from the handle as illustrated inFIG. 5, there will be a tendency for the points 27 to catch on andimpale the elastic material 15. However, by longitudinally stretchingthe elastic material 15, said material is cross-sectionally reduced insize as shown in FIG. 9 whereby the fastener 24 can be moved along theelastic material without the prongs 26 engaging said material. Once thepreferred adjusted position is reached, release of the material returnsthe same to its normal cross-sectional size. To facilitate manipulationof therfastener 24, the outer surface thereof may be knurled asindicated at 28 or otherwise provided with a gripping surface.

FIGS. 10 and 11 show a modified form of the adjustable fastener 24, themodified fastener being designated by the numeral 34. Said fastener 34comprises a sleeve 35 which may be made of metal and a coaxial disc-36secured across the end of said sleeve in any suitable manner such as bybrazing, welding, or the like. The disc 36 may be made of thin sheetmetal and is provided with upwardly struck prongs 37 which areintegrally formed from the metal of the disc 36 and converge slightly inthe axial direction in the same manner as the prongs 26 of the foregoingembodiment. The adjustable fastener 34 works in exactly the same manneras described hereinabove with respect to the fastener 24 and bears theadditional advantage that the disc 36 can be dimensioned to projectbeyond the outer diameter of the sleeve 35 in the manner illustrated toprovide a slight shoulder 36a for grasping and pushing the fastenerduring adjustment thereof. It will be understood that the fastener 34may also be made of plastic with the parts thereof adhesively bonded orintegrally formed, and the outer surface thereof may be knurled as shownat 38.

FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate another modification of the inventioncomprising a retainer generally indicated at 40. The retainer 40comprises a complete elastic loop 41 preferably of a size adapted foruse with the largest trash can on which it is anticipated that theretainer would be used. The handle 12 (FIG. 13) is separately attachedby a strap 43 which may be made of any suitable, preferably flat, strapmaterial. The end of the strap opposite the handle 12 is attached to anadjustable fastener 44 by projecting through a slot 45 in said lastmentioned fastener. The fastener 44 is formed of a substantially heavy,rigid sheet material such as steel or hard plastic and is provided witha slot 46 which opens at the bottom edge thereof. The slot 46 is neckeddown inwardly of the bottom edge whereby it can be forcefully slippedover a double thickness of the elastic material 15. As illustrated inFIG. 12, the loop 41 can be adjusted to any size by bringing oppositeportions of the elastic material together flatwise and sliding thematerial tightly into the restricting slot 46. Thus a retainer ofadjusted size is provided with a suitable handle 12 for manipulation andremoval.

The final embodiment of the invention is shown in FIG. 14 and isdesignated by the numeral 50. The retainer 50 comprises a loop 51 formedfrom the elongated elastic material 15. Said loop has a handle 12secured at one point in its circumference to a strap portion 13 made bylooping the elastic material through said handle and securing the endsthereof by any suitable means such as rivets 14. Adjustment of the sizeof the loop 51 is effected by means of at least one pair ofcomplementary fastener means 52a providing a snap fastener 52 ofwell-known construction. This embodiment of the invention is preset foradjustment to substantially different size trash cans of knowndimensions, and its versatility may be increased by adding increasednumbers of snap fasteners 52.

In all of the embodiments of the invention, there is capacity for acertain amount of adjustment to different size trash cans and refusebags due to the inherent elasticity of the material from which the loopportion is made. All of the embodiments are provided with a suitablehandle, which as stated need not be limited to the simple ring shown,whereby' the retainer can be readily and easily manipulated and removedfrom the refuse container even when the user is wearing gloves. Anadditional convenience can be afforded with each of the embodiments whenusing ahandle of the form illustrated since said handle provides aconvenient means for temporarily attaching plastic or wire fasteners Fas illustrated in FIG. 4. The various types of further adjustment meansfor the loops of the retainers add immeasurably to the utility andflexibility of the invention.

It will be understood that many changes in the details of the inventionas herein described and illustrated may be made without, however,departing from the spirit thereof or the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An adjustable loop retainer comprising an elongated flexible memberforrned into a loop, a handle of substantial size for easy graspingconnected to said loop, and an adjustable sleeve member having a throughopening and material engaging means disposed around one axially directedend thereof and projecting generally in the .axial direction, whereinthe improvement comprises, said loop being disposed through said sleevefrom the end thereof opposite said material engaging means whereby saidmaterial engaging means are directed toward the portion of the loop tobe ad- 15 justed; said material engagingmeans being comprised of pointedprojections extending from an end of said sleeve and angled slightlytoward the axis of said sleeve member; and said flexible membercomprising thin flat elastic material in strip form having a widthgreater than the through opening in said sleeve whereby at any adjustedposition of said sleeve member, spreading said loop to engage an objectcauses said material engaging means to engage said elastic material atopposite sides of said one end of said sleeve and retain said loop atits adjusted size.

2. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidretainer is made of integrally molded elastic material; said retainerincluding means whereby said handle engages said loop comprising anintegral bridge portion of said elastic material.

3. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 2 wherein saidhandle comprises an integrally molded ring projecting from the outerperiphery of said loop; the material defining said ring having across-sectional area of substantial thickness relative to thecross-sectional area of the elastic material forming said loop wherebyto afford increased stiffness in said ring.

4. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidsleeve member is circular in cross section.

5. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidmaterial engaging means comprises a plurality of prongs spaced aroundsaid one axially directed end of said sleeve member.

6. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidmaterial engaging means comprises a plurality of generally axiallydirected prongs spaced around said one axially directed end of saidsleeve member; said prongs having pointed tips defining an opening atsaid one axially directed end of said sleeve member which is slightlysmaller than the diameter of said through opening.

7. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein saidmaterial engaging means comprises a flat piece of sheet material securedacross said one axially directed end of said sleeve member; said pieceof sheet material having generally axially outwardly struck prongsspaced around said one end and directed axially away from said sleevemember; said prongs having pointed tips defining an opening at said oneaxially directed end of said sleeve member.

8. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 7 wherein saidpiece of sheet material is larger than the transverse dimension of saidsleeve and provides shoulder means for grasping and pushing said sleevemember during adjustment thereof.

1. An adjustable loop retainer comprising an elongated flexible memberformed into a loop, a handle of substantial size for easy graspingconnected to said loop, and an adjustable sleeve member having a throughopening and material engaging means disposed around one axially directedend thereof and projecting generally in the axial direction, wherein theimprovement comprises, said loop being disposed through said sleeve fromthe end thereof opposite said material engaging means whereby saidmaterial engaging means are directed toward the portion of the loop tobe adjusted; said material engaging means being comprised of pointedprojections extending from an end of said sleeve and angled slightlytoward the axis of said sleeve member; and said flexible membercomprising thin flat elastic material in strip form having a widthgreater than the through opening in said sleeve whereby at any adjustedposition of said sleeve member, spreading said loop to engage an objectcauses said material engaging means to engage said elastic material atopposite sides of said one end of said sleeve and retain said loop atits adjusted size.
 2. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim1 wherein said retainer is made of integrally molded elastic material;said retainer including means whereby said handle engages said loopcomprising an integral bridge portion of said elastic material.
 3. Anadjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 2 wherein said handlecomprises an integrally molded ring projecting from the outer peripheryof said loop; the material defining said ring having a cross-sectionalarea of substantial thickness relative to the cross-sectional area ofthe elastic material forming said loop whereby to afford increasedstiffness in said ring.
 4. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth inclaim 1 wherein said sleeve member is circular in cross section.
 5. Anadjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said materialengaging means comprises a plurality of prongs spaced around said oneaxially directed end of said sleeve member.
 6. An adjustable loopretainer as set forth in claim 1 wherein said material engaging meanscomprises a plurality of generally axially directed prongs spaced aroundsaid one axially directed end of said sleeve member; said prongs havingpointed tips defining an opening at said one axially directed end ofsaid sleeve member which is slightly smaller than the diameter of saidthrough opening.
 7. An adjustable loop retainer as set forth in claim 1wherein said material engaging means comprises a flat piece of sheetmaterial secured across said one axially directed end of said sleevemember; said piece of sheet material having generally axially outwardlystruck prongs spaced around said one end and directed axially away fromsaid sleeve member; said prongs having pointed tips defining an openingat said one axially directed end of said sleeve member.
 8. An adjustableloop retainer as set forth in claim 7 wherein said piece of sheetmaterial is larger than the transverse dimension of said sleeve andprovides shoulder means for grasping and pushing said sleeve memberduring adjustment thereof.